Day: August 29, 2017

Punditry is about having instant opinions on everything. In an age when information can be accessed immediately, people are looking for an instant reaction to news and data as well. Sometimes, however, a considered response is far more useful. The simple phrase “I don’t know” is anathema to most who write for the internet but is, at times, the only...
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Just when you thought it was safe to focus on other things than North Korea, Kim Jong-un last night launched a missile from Pyongyang over Hokkaido, the main northernmost island of the country of Japan. It’s a clearly provocative move meant to get the attention of President Trump as much as anyone else. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wasted no...
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Over the weekend, Hurricane Harvey hit the Texas Gulf coast and is still pounding Houston with unprecedented rainfall. The storm is causing major flooding, and has so far taken the lives of five people. That and the disruption, even devastation, of the lives of many more is, and should be, the focus of most people, but there will also be...
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“For now at least, it has become hard to risk capital on the price of oil with as much conviction as in the past.”—Andy Hall, famed oil trader, on shuttering his oil hedge fund. If Andy Hall is confused, what does that say about the rest of us? This checklist tries to identify some of the anomalies in the global...
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Ahead of the bell this morning on the first trading day of a new week, all port of Houston facilities remain closed following Hurricane Harvey slamming the Southeastern coast of Texas last Friday. Of all ports in the U.S., Houston’s ranks #1 in foreign tonnage, especially in oil and gasoline exports. Much of metropolitan Houston remains under water, with more...
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Middle East shares mostly slid in thin volume ahead of the Eid al-Adha holidays beginning this week. Qatar slumped after Fitch downgraded the country’s credit rating. Fitch lowered Qatar by one notch to AA-minus with a negative outlook, citing the impact of sanctions imposed by other Arab states. In company news, Amiantit said it expected a capital gain of 50...
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Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) just took a bold leap into the unknown with an agreement to acquire Kite Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ: KITE) for $180 per share or about $11.9 billion. Gilead’s last 11-figure bet turned out to be one of the best investments in biopharma history, and it’s tempting to believe the company can catch lightning in a bottle...
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American depository receipts of Asian stocks were trading 0.46% lower at 166.82 on the Bank of New York Mellon Asia ADR Index on Tuesday. In North Asia, the gainers were led by real estate services provider Leju Holdings ( LEJU ), and Semiconductor Manufacturing International ( SMI ), which rose 5.2% and 3.5% respectively. They were followed by mobile app...
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Unprecedented rains and flooding from deadly Hurricane Harvey, which hit a number of Texas cities including Houston and Corpus Christi over the weekend, are still occurring. The extent of the damage is as yet unknown, but is expected to run into the tens of billions of dollars. Obviously, the storm’s effects on the stock market are of far less concern than...
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American depository receipts of European stocks were trading 0.42% lower at 133.87 on the Bank of New York Mellon Europe ADR Index on Tuesday. In continental Europe, the gainers were led by 3D printer manufacturer voxeljet ( VJET ), and biopharmaceutical company Forward Pharma ( FWP ), which rose 2.1% and 1.6% respectively. They were followed by 3D printer maker...
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